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MaryamieMaryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble's musings about Life, Love and Everything Else...
May 06 Does Scratched Teflon Cause Cancer?The hot new debate at the Scoble house has nothing to do with Barack or Hillary, or whose turn it is to change the baby's diapers. We are above politics and poop and are talking pots and pans. We are discussing non stick cookware and whether when scratched it can cause cancer or not. I have already gotten rid of a few pots and pans that had scrtches on them, because I think they can cause cancer. Robert says I need to show him scientific proof before throwing away perfectly good pots and pans. Our recycling containers are getting heavy for him to lift :)
I've done some research and while the American Cancer society does not advise against cooking with non-stick pots and pans, they say it is best to avoid using the old and scratched ones. Some environmental and alternative health sites though have lots of negative things to say about non-stick cookware and the checmicals used to make them. So what do you think and what do you use? May 05 Happy Cinco De MayoGot this in email and had to share. Apparently what I learned about Cinco de Mayo in history books was wrong.
Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England . In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico , which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York . This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico . But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York . The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was lost. The people of Mexico , who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course as... Sinko de Mayo Book MemeI've been an avid reader all my life, and being an English major have had to read many books, but recently with the baby haven't had a chance to read much. I am missing that part of my life and have to somehow get that back into my daily life. Thanks to Alfred I found this list and had to fill it out. Looks like I've got some reading to do. I love Toni Morrison, Josef Heller, Nabakov, Virginia Wolfe, and Neil Gaiman. Milan Kundera has to be one of my all time favorite writers. I named my son after him :) I hated having to read Jane Austen for my classes though. I honestly don't know why everyone makes such a big deal about her writing. BORING, that's all I have to say. According to a LibraryThing survey, these 106 works are the
ones most often marked as “unread,” meaning they sit on the shelf to
make you look smart or well-rounded. Here are the rules: Bold the ones you’ve read, underline the ones read solely as a curriculum requirement, italicize the ones you started, but didn’t finish.
The name of the Rose* Don Quixote* Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed Cloud Atlas Ok, it's your turn. May 03 How to tell if you are married...Got this via email from a fellow married girlfriend and had to share:
Three women: one engaged, one married and one a mistress, are chatting about their relationships and decided to amaze their men. That night all three will wear black leather bras, stiletto heels and a mask over their eyes.
After a few days they meet up for lunch. The engaged woman: The other night when my boyfriend came over he found me with a black leather bodice, tall stilettos and a mask. He saw me and said, "You are the woman of my life. I love you." Then we made love all night long. The mistress: Me too! The other night I met my lover at his office and I was wearing the leather bodice, heels, mask over my eyes and a raincoat. When I opened the raincoat he didn't say a word, but we had wild sex all night. The married woman: I sent the kids to stay at my mother's house for the night. When my husband came home I was wearing the leather bodice, black stockings, stilettos and a mask over my eyes. As soon as he came in the door and saw me he said, "What's for dinner, Batman?" Seven tips for new momsEvery day it seems that I learn something new about parenting since my baby has been born, but these seven things are worth mentioning. So here are a list of seven things I have learned after seven months of being a mother:
Number one--Cradle cap is not one of those cute little pink or blue caps that newborns wear to keep their little cute heads warm and covered. Cradle cap is yellowish, oily, thick and crusty patches on the baby's scalp. It is definitely not cute. They don't know what causes it and though harmless and only lasting for the first few months of life, it's nothing pretty to look at. I hear Tea Tree Oil is helpful.
Number two--Babies can sleep through the loudest musicals, huge parties, and TV and radio blasting off. Their cue to wake up is usually when you silently sit down to take the first bite of your meal.
Number three--It doesn't matter how sound of a sleeper you are; your baby's cry will wake you up. I slept through the Iraqi bomb campaign in Tehran during Iran and Iraq war. When Milan whimpers at night, I jump up.
Number four--No matter how much you think your mom loves you, she will love your baby more. There is no way you can compete. I asked my mom once if Milan resembled me when I was a baby. My mom laughed it off and said, oh no way, he is so much cuter.
Number five--On the other hand, you will appreciate your mom and understand her a lot more, once you become a mother yourself.
Number six--If you are going to go out, change and feed the baby before you put that new outfit on. It is highly possible that the baby might barf on you, pee on you or poop on you. If you are like me, most probably all will happen to you within a few minutes of putting that new outfit on.
Number seven--You can still do everything you did before you had a baby. You just have to plan it, be patient and a lot more flexible. Your life isn't over just because you had a baby. It has just begun. May 01 A Can of Diet Pepsi in the Freezer Here's a tip for you, if you want a cold can of diet Pepsi, you can either pour some of it in a glass full of ice or leave the can in the fridge a while before you plan to consume it. Better yet, just don't drink soda. It's not good for you anyway. Yeah I know that is pretty obvious, but what you need to do is realize that never under any circumstances should you leave the said can in the freezer, telling yourself that you will remember to take it out in a few minutes. You may remember to do it a few times, but it is enough just once for you to forget and leave the can there overnight like I did. The sad thing is I don't even drink soda. I left it there for Robert and was going to give to him when I served dinner, but I forgot. The next day when I opened the freezer to get some ice, I was greeted with a frozen black liquid that was splashed all over the freezer. After cursing my own stupidity, the laws of physics, and every single can of soda that exists, diet and regular, I decided to clean the freezer. It was hard to scratch the frozen soda pieces from the freezer. Here's where I had my next brilliant idea which should promptly land me in an episode of Jackass. I thought I would turn the freezer off and wait until it got slushy and soft before removing the splashed soda icicles. So my second tip for you is never do what I just told you that I did. What happened next was that the soda started trickling down all over the freezer, and now everything was black, sticky and requiring lots of effort to clean up. It took me a few hours to clean the freezer and all its contents. I have decided never to bring home a can of soda. I don't care if it was my fault to begin with. April 22 How do you get rid of the rats?They say there is more than one way to skin a cat; apparently there is also more than one way to get rid of a rat. I have talked to four different pest control specialists and each has given me a different story and a different price estimate.
The first one wanted to take out all the floor boards in the attic and install new insulation pads, set rodent traps everywhere and seal up all the little openings in the roof to rodent proof the house for the total of 3600 dollars. I had a small heart attack when I heard that price.
The second one said he wanted 125 dollars just to come and inspect the place before giving us a price estimate. I figured if I had to pay 125 dollars just to get him to come down here, I probably couldn't afford him.
The third one said that he wanted 250 to get rid of the rats and 56 dollars per month for a year to come and keep checking to make sure we won't have nay more problems with the rats.
The last one said that the rats were coming from underneath the house as well as from the roof. He wants to poison them, set traps for the ones that won't die of the poison and then seal the openings underneath and on top of the house. He will then clean and deoderize the attic and the crawl space and guarantee that we won't have any more problems for the next two years. All for the price of 1200 dollars.
Should I keep asking more people? Should I choose one of the above? Should I buy a cat? How do I get rid of the rats? April 19 The Rodent SpecialistIt took him less than half an hour to search through our attic, take some floorboards out and rummage through the insulation pads to find the rodent nest and the baby rat that had died in it and caused the aweful smell. It cost us three hundred dollars. He tells me that it will cost another 3600 bucks to make our house rodent proof by closing all the openings where they are coming through, cleaning and disinfecting the attic and installing new insulation pads. We have a huge rat infestation problem. I am trying to get some other quotes as I choked on the price estimate he gave me, but I can't live with these rats either. Last year we had the voles, this year we have the rats, I am wondering what it will be next year. He tells me that our neighbors had called him in for their racoon problem, so I guess next year is the year of the racoons. If the snakes come, I am leaving town. April 15 Ratz! How does that saying go again? When the cat is away, the rats will play? It doesn't really matter. We have RATS people, RATZ! My brother has left traps all over the kitchen and in the living room as well and we've caught two mice and one big rat already. One of the traps had gone off though and the rat had escaped. I think it went and died somewhere in the attic. We have not been able to find the body yet, but the stench comes through the vents and is pretty nasty. Tonight we had a search party in the attic but we couldn't find anything. That stench though...it's driving me nutz! Is there a CSI unit for rats and mice? I guess I need to call pest control. Yes I did see Ratatouille, but these rats are not cute and they certainly don't cook. They steal our food, leave their dirty droppings and are pretty nasty. Maybe I should buy a cat? April 09 What happened at Camp? Johnson's Camp Baby Report Day 2 and 3What started with a great session on the mystery of getting your baby to sleep by Dr. Jodi Mindell bright and early in day 2 ended with a generous Johnson & Johnson product expo and sampling right around noon on the third day. In between sleeping tips and sampling picks, we learned about the Johnson's commitment to the environment and the safety of their products, The InfantSee program which provides free vision care for infants and children, The dirt on germs, emerging lifestyle trends for moms, nutritional advice and tips on healthy cooking and eating, as well as a discussion on sensitive gynecological issues and a fun hair braiding session. Stop right there! No, the gynecological session and the hair braiding session were two different sessions and had nothing to do with eachother. They even had a session dedicated to get feedback from bloggers on their products and the company as a whole.
For entertainment, we got to go out to a nice and trendy restaurant in the evening of day 2 and had a wonderful breakfast at J and J plant in the morning of day 3. GM provided transportation for the bloggers to the restaurant and the J and J plant as well as rides to and from the airport in rocking brand new cars (we love our Saturn), and Nintendo brought out Wii stations to the restaurant so we could play before dinner and they also gave away Nintendo DS to every single one of us. Woohoo! (We are soooooooooo buying a Wii)!!!!
J & J might have needed a refresher course in sending out invitations, but when it came to planning and executing the event, they certainly had it hands-down. They certainly spared no expense in making sure that the bloggers got there in the most convenient way possible. Once there, we were treated courteously and with the utmost care and respect. The hotel was modern and nice, the beds fluffly and soft, food and refreshments were available frequently and plentifully and the sessions were informational and enjoyable.
What I enjoyed most from the event though was the opportunity to meet and bond with so many amazing women who happen to be mommy bloggers. I hope that J & J continues to do more Camp Babies, and allow more individuals (other mommy bloggers, more women of color, even daddy bloggers too) to enjoy the incredible experience that we had last week at Camp Baby. Special thanks to Lori Dolginoff and team for treating us to such an amazing experience. Milan might not be the new face for Johnson and Johnson but he certainly has been using Johnson and Johnson products from the first day he came home to us from the hospital. Thanks! April 02 Johnson's Camp Baby Report, First Night, Wine tasting session Johnson's Camp Baby's first night was quite a hit with charming and funny Ted Allen, from Top Chef leading a wine tasting session and answering questions about his stint at Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, what's happening with Top Chef and what future projects he is working on. While teaching us tips about different wines, and what foods they should go with, he had us laughing with impromptu funny remarks, but he got the whole room roaring at the end when he said, now that I have answered all your questions, I have one for you: Sooooooo what's twitter? I guess celebrities and experts can learn a few things from bloggers too :) I don't drink much; I am not a big fan of white wines, but I like a little red wine now and then and yet the Chardonnay from Clos Du Bois Collection that they had us taste, Calcaire was amazing. And so here is what I learned, 1) Sauvignon Blanc tastes better with Lemon chicken as the citrus taste in the wine complements the chicken's flavor, while plain chicken tastes better with Chardonnay as the buttery taste of Chardonnay adds to the chicken's flavor. 2) Merlot is better with Spagetti and tomato sauce while Cabernet is better with Steak, because it can cut throught the richness. 3) Zin tastes good with Chocolate. 4) One shouldn't pay too much for Pinot Grigio 5) If you are going to a dinner party and want to pick up a bottle in the grocery store, you can be safe with a 18-20 dollars bottle of Robert Mondavi or Gallo wine. Meeting Mommy Bloggers, listening to Ted Allen, and being wined and dined has been fun so far. Thanks to Johnson and Johnson for paying for this trip and hosting us. I am looking forward to the full day of session and activities on Thursday. Will report more tomorrow night. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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